Roses and Thorns
by Alraina
Summary: This takes place 2 years after Gemma goes to America. WARNING spoilers for TSFT! After TSFT I was left wanting something to be reversed...this is my version Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

**- I do not own these charcters! They are Libba Brays, Please review! I will be more inclined to write more Enjoy!-**

"_Gemma…_"

I know that I am dreaming but I want for it to be real so badly. I see him, he is far away but I know it is him; it always is. I sprint towards him faster then I ever could while conscious. I run to him, I run to his comforting arms that I know I will never be used again in reality. I reach him and I stop. Tears streak my face but I don't care. There is nothing I want more then to be in his arms, even if it is just a dream.

He walks towards me and embraces me strongly, and I hold close to him. I sob into his chest and he caresses my hair gently.

"_Gemma, please don't cry…_"

I look up into his dark brown eyes, the eyes that I love to drown in. He wipes a tear from my cheek and lifts my chin with his finger.

The next thing I feel is his warmth on my lips, his pressing to mine in a deep kiss. His hand moves to the back of my neck and pulls me closer. I don't resist, I feel a certain bliss that I only feel when I am with him. One that I never want to end.

He breaks the kiss and looks deep into my eyes.

Fresh tears began to well up in me and I choke back a sob.

"_Why_? _Why did it happen like this_? _I would give anything, anything…_"

He puts a finger to my lips.

"_It was destiny, it was meant to be like this, Gemma._"

"_No…No, It wasn't_!" I shout loudly. "_We are meant to be together_! _I know it, there must be some way, something I can do…_"

"_No, Gemma. You know as well as I do that there is no way to bring me back._"

"_Yes there is_!_ There has to be_! _I…I…_" I feel a blush coming and look down. A tear hits the ground and I look up no longer embarrassed of what I want, what I need to say. "_I love you_! _I always have from the moment we met I knew that I would love you. I…I can't live without you…I feel empty until I see you again then the void is filled, but I awake and my emptiness is even greater then before._"

He is silent. For a moment I regret what I have said. He doesn't love me back…he has no desire to return to our world…to return to me. But I shake the thought off, of course he loves me, we walked in each other's dreams. We are _meant_ to be…

I embrace him closely and I am no longer able to hold back my sobs. Then I feel a tear that is not my own. I look at him and see that he is crying. I kiss him softly on the lips and then I feel a pull. He is starting to fade. My dream is nearly over.

"_No, please don't leave me_." I whisper looking at him as he fades further and further away.

He places something in my hands and whispers in my ear, "_I am here_."

Suddenly I am awake. My face is wet with tears. I suppress a last sob as I sit up. I move my hand to my face to wipe a tear but there is something in my hand. I open my hand and see a note. My eyes widen, it is what he handed me before I woke. I stand and I begin open it carefully out of fear that it may disappear in my hands. When I see what is on the note I nearly faint and I sink to the ground.

It is a symbol: two hands interlocked, surrounded by a perfect, unbroken circle.

There is something below it written in his hand, "_Tu me-kam_."

I press the paper to my chest. A tear falls into my lap. I have heard that phrase used many times by the gypsy's near Spence. It is a Romani phrase. He loves me…He. Loves. Me.

**-Next chapter will come soon! please review! thanks!-**


	2. Chapter 2

**-Sorry I know these are short...but they will get longer! I promise especially if you review lol. I have to decide on a few details still, I'll take suggestions! Enjoy!-**

There is a knock at my door and I jump.

"Yes?"

"Gemma! Hurry or you'll be late for our English session!"

"Oh yes! I'm coming"

I hear Arabella walk away from my door and down the stairs. I breathe a sigh and slowly stand and look at the note in my hand. There is no time to think, if I am late I shall be locked out and miss the lesson, which is by no means a good notion. I get dressed quickly, not letting go of the note. I hope that it is real, that it will not soon disappear as Kartik does in my dreams before I wake. I slip the note into my corset; it sits at the side under my arm. I fear that if I let it go I will never see it again.

I pin up my hair and look at myself in the mirror. I look horrid; my red curls need brushing desperately, my face is still red from crying as are my eyes, but it will have to do. Suddenly, there is a flash of movement behind me and I spin around but there is nothing. I brush it off forgetting it quickly and run to my first class barely making it.

I sit at my desk as the instructor lectures on the proper use of punctuation marks, I think. I don't hear a word he is saying, I just sit and think of the note and of Kartik. Tonight is June 1st, and Felicity, Ann and I shall meet in the Realms as we always do the first of each month. I might discuss the matter with them, but I fear they shall think me mad. Perhaps I am mad.

"Miss Doyle! Please stop day dreaming and pay attention!"

I snap back.

"Yes sir, sorry."

He continues on but I still don't hear, I have too much to think about. I wander off into deep thought once again. Then there is another flash of movement behind my instructor. I gasp but quickly regret it for everyone around me including the instructor has noticed it.

"Miss Doyle. What is the matter now?"

"No-nothing" I stutter.

"Are you feeling alright today Miss Doyle? You seem to be in another place."

I lie. "No, I fear that I do not feel very well today."

He gives a sigh and waves his hand to dismiss me.

"Go get some rest. Miss Patrickson will take notes for you."

"Yes sir, thank you."

I gather my notebook and pencil and walk out the door. I have the urge to run, to be free. I run to my room and put down my things and run outside into the near by woods.

I spin around as the petals from a near by flowering tree float to the ground. I stop and sit down. I cannot help but think of him, think of Kartik. The first time I took him to the realms. Tears began to well up in my eyes and again I am lost in the grief of losing him. If I had only listened to him, believed in his dream of us fighting side by side. Would I still have lost him? Would Amar still have stabbed me? Would that one-drop of blood still escape and strike the ground? Would Kartik still have to sacrifice himself? Sacrifice him self, for me? I would give anything in the world to do it over, anything at all. But I know that there isn't anything I can do, at least that I know of. However, I will find a way, I have to for the sake of my sanity. Because two years has been too long to live without him, without his touch, his smell, his warmth. Dreams are no longer enough for me.

I see a flicker of movement, I look but there is nothing there. Am I mad? Then I hear it. It starts as a low whisper and then builds quickly.

"_Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice_."

I stand up, turn around and face what is chanting. It is a wraith; I see its bony hand protruding, pointing at me. I'm frozen in place, frozen with fear. What is a wraith doing here?

"_You are the sacrifice, the one who can give me more power!_"

"What do you want?" I say and hope my voice doesn't show my fear which is building by the second.

"_Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice!_" It screams.

I look around for anyone watching, there is no one. I concentrate and summon the door of light.

"If you want your sacrifice follow me."

I do not need to tell the creature twice. I fling open the door and he chases after me. I am in the garden. I look around for anyone and see no one. I turn around and face the wraith.

"_Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice._"

"No! I am no one's sacrifice."

The wraith comes at me, it has a dagger it its hand. I avoid the first attack but the second wave comes quickly and I am not fast enough. The dagger wounds my side; I wince and fall hard on my knees.

"_Sacrifice! Blood has been spilled! More! More!_"

The creature moves towards me but something inside me happens. I place my hand on the wraith's chest and I feel a strange connection. For a moment it seems as if time has frozen then our bond is broken I feel a power flow through me and suddenly the creature disintegrate into nothing more then dust and is gone with a gust of the wind.

**-mmm what will happen next? Sorry I love suspense new story coming very soon so no worries! Review pretty please 3-**


	3. Chapter 3

**-Sorry this took so long everyone ! I 've been swamped with mid terms and papers. Enjoy-**

I am still on the ground, I cannot move. My mind is everywhere at once and I cannot concentrate on the event that just took place. What happened to me? What was that surge of power? Why did the wraith disintegrate? And why was it out of the realms?

"Priestess."

I look up at the voice and see Philon walking towards me. I slowly stand up but I am very weak on my feet. But I shouldn't be feeling weak, yet I do and I have a sick feeling in my stomach. I fall hard on my knees. My side is throbbing with pain; I already have lost enough blood to feel woozy.

"Priestess what seems to be the matter? Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine, thank you Philon. I just have a little cut on my side that's all." I say looking up at the centaur.

"Well, Priestess, we should dress your wounds."

"No, that won't be necessary Philon. I will be fine, the bleeding has already stopped, it's just painful." I wince and stand up. I am not very steady on my feet but I will live. I rip the bottom layer of my skirt and tie it around my wound. I did like this one anyway, it was a pale pink something I never would have chosen but was rather forced upon me by my grandmother.

"Well, you are here early Priestess, but I must say that it is a good thing. There is an urgent matter at hand…"

"What is it?" Even I can hear the concern in my voice. Please don't be Kartik, the Tree of All Souls.

"A part of the Winter Lands has become barren again."

I am bewildered, the tree and Kartik did this affect him? I nearly faint dead away but I steady my self on a near by tree. This is my worst fear, especially since I do not know how to stop it.

"It was not the tree Lady Hope." Says a familiar voice and I see Asha walking towards Philon and me.

I breathe a sigh of relief. If the Tree of All Souls was lost, I don't know what I would do. It is the closest thing I have to him. But why are the Winter lands reverting? This is something serious; I can feel it in my gut. I laugh to my self. Great, I may have returned the magic and shared it with the others in the realms but things still seem to go wrong now and again. It's all just so lovely.

"Come we will take you there." Philon says and starts walking in the direction of the river. Asha and I follow him.

"Lady Hope, are you okay?" Asha has seen my wound; I can see her big eyes filled with worry.

"Yes I'll be fine, Asha."

Gorgon is sleeping on the ship; she looks so peaceful. She wakes up as we get closer.

"Most High, you have returned. But where are the others? Did they not come with you this time?"

"No its not that Gorgon, I just came a bit early. Fee and Ann will arrive a bit later. Will you take us to the Winter Lands?"

"Of course Most High." Gorgons gives a slightly nod and we board the ship. We are soon off towards the Winter Lands.

"How much of the Winter Lands have been reversed?" I say as I look over the side of the boat and into the beautiful blue water of the river. I see my distorted reflection but it can't hide my imperfections. I concentrate hard for a moment and my hair becomes perfect and my freckles have faded. I look like a picture, but it's more than I wanted. I simply wanted to fix my hair so I might look somewhat presentable. I sigh, even though it's been years since I have had control of the magic, I still cannot control it properly. Everyone says that it will take time, as all things do. I have had time; I shouldn't be having troubles now.

"A few acres at first, but even more has become desolate now. It started about a week after your last visit Priestess." I looked up at Philon; his face was very grim. I knew this was a very grave matter, but I still cannot take my mind off of the wraith and the magic that I still cannot control.

We arrive at the piece of land that has been returned to its formally unattractive self. I look around it and I cannot believe my eyes. Its worse that I thought it was, the ground that so recently was grassy and lush was now a gray dust. The flowers were gone as where what wild life use to live here. I step off the boat and on to the cold dirty ground. I drop to my knees and place my hands on the earth and try to bring the beautiful lushness back. It starts with grass then grows to flowers and trees it spread through out the barren land. It looks amazing almost better than it did before.

"Lady Hope that is wonderful."

"Thank you Asha." I'm not sure how I did it, but I'm happy to return it to its former glory. "We must get back to the Garden, Fee and Ann will be here soon."

**-Sorry this was a boring chapter proabably but significant none the less. I will post more after my midterms and papers are all done with, I promise next chapter will be good -**


	4. Chapter 4

**- Im sorry this took so long, I've had many issues come up this summer involving my laptop and the internet so I have been unable to write much. I know this is short but its something for now, I hope you enjoy please comment!-**

As I step off the boat I see Felicity rushing towards me.

"Gemma! How dare you go off with out Ann and I!" She laughs but becomes quiet when she notices the solemn look on my face. "What's the matter, Gemma?" Her face is full of worry.

"The Winter Lands are reverting back," Philon states, "Excuse me, priestess, but I must be going I have another matter to attend to." He bows and walks away.

"As do I Lady Hope" Asha bows and follows Philon.

"Thank you, Philon, Ahsa." I bow back. "Felicity where is Ann? Wasn't she supposed to be with you?"

"She said she would be late. She has an audition for something." Fee shrugs. "But what is this about the Winter Lands reverting? What's going on?"

I sigh. "I will catch you up once Ann arrives…"

"HEY! Sorry I'm late! I tried to leave early but I got the part so they wanted to hear more!" Ann runs toward us.

"You got the part? Ann that's wonderful!" Fee claps and Ann takes a bow and we all laugh.

"Most high, shall we take them to see the Winter Lands?"

"Yes gorgon, thank you." I turn to Fee and Ann, "I'll fill you in on the way there."

"So a wraith made its way out of the realms?" Ann paces.

I nod, this is all very strange. Is something resurfacing? But why? It's been years. Nothing makes sense anymore.

"Most High, we are here."

I stand up and look at the barren waste land. "But, I fixed it! It was no more the 2 hours ago! How could it revert so quickly?" We pull up next to the sand and I jump off the boat. "Why? How?" My head spins and I feel nauseas. If it could destroy that much within such a short amount of time, is the tree still okay? I run towards the Tree of Souls leaving Ann and Fee behind.

"Gemma! Where are you going? Wait for us!" I hear Ann yell and there following quick steps. But I do not slow down to their pace, I have to see the tree and know that it is alright.

As I run all I can see is the gray, cold land that once had been so beautiful. My heart sinks with each step. I am getting close, but there is no relief. The Winterlands are once again as dead as they had been when I first came to the realms.

I reach the patch of earth where the tree had been. It is gone. Everything is dead and the tree is gone. My knees weaken and my head spins. It is gone, Kartik is gone. I will never hear his voice saying my name whispered among the trees. I swoon and fall back.

"Gemma" says a familiar voice. It is the last thing I hear before everything becomes black and I am caught by someones strong arms.


End file.
